Apple's Passbook-Enabled Gift Cards Aren't Coming To Australia Yet

Though iOS 6′s Passbook burst onto the scene with a bit of a whimper, but it’s been getting more useful as time goes on. This weekend, Apple started rolling out Passbook-enabled Apple Store gift cards in the US, so you can buy a gift that’s not only last-minute, but not even a physical object. The only issue is that it’s only available for US customers so far.

The cards can be purchased through the recently updated Apple Store iOS app and come in sizes of $US25 all the way up to $US2,000, which would make for one hell of a gift card. They also come in three colours, but that’s sort of a moot point when you’re going digital. The digital “cards” aren’t just for folks who can use Passbook though; they can be delivered in the form of a printable email. If you load them into Passbook, however, you get the option to take the “card” with a zip code, so Passbook can remind you that you have Apple-cash to blow whenever you’re near a brick and mortar store.

I don't understand "but it’s been getting more useful as time goes on." Every time I open the Passbook app and try and find apps the only thing the App store shows is "ShopperNova!" which is fairly useless. Perhaps you should put together a list of applications on the Australian store that we can get some use out of in Passbook.

In a way that is a blessing in disguise, if Apple will take this route and kill the gift cards, we will not be able to get any more discounts offered at the moment. Apple spends money printing cards, shipping and then dealer markups, why can they not offer discounts for those that purchase online? They are saving Apple that money aren't they?

Happy that we will still have the physical cards for a while more, with 10-25% discounts